Variability of the meridional circulation in the north Atlantic Ocean during the last 2000 years

• Main Author: Bouinot, Thomas
• Other Authors: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), Université Paris Sud - Paris XI, Elsa Cortijo, Laurent Labeyrie
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2011
• Subjects: Paleoceanography; North atlantic ocean; Micropaleontology; Geochemistry; Subpolar gyre; Heat transport; Paléocéanographie; Océan Atlantique Nord; Micropaléontologie; Géochimie; Gyre subpolaire; Transport de chaleur; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; North Atlantic; Planktonic foraminifera
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00679528; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00679528/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00679528/file/VA2_BOUINOT_THOMAS_15122011.pdf

The purpose of this thesis was to study the surface oceanic circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean during the last 2,000 years, and its link with the intensity of the subpolar and the subtropical gyres. To fulfill these objectives, I studied sediment cores with a high sedimentation rate to reconstruct the multidecadal variability of the temperature and the water column stratification, controlled by the dynamic of oceanic gyres. To improve the marine paleoclimatic signal recorded from planktonic foraminifera, I constrained their growing season and their calcification depth by analyzing the oxygen isotopic composition of their calcitic shells. I also established calibrations between Mg/Ca ratio and temperature for the main species used.I applied these calibrations to reconstruct the hydrological conditions in key areas of the North Atlantic Ocean. I constructed an index of the subpolar gyre that traduces the dynamic intensity of the subpolar gyre and the subtropical gyre. I also studied the variability of the upper water column based on the analysis of deep-dwelling foraminifera. I interpret past changes in the water column stratification as resulting from changes in the intensity of Westerly winds. The similarities between the wind forcing evolution and the index of the subpolar gyre dynamics led me to propose a coupling between the ocean and the atmosphere on the multidecadal time scale. The consequences of the gyres dynamic on heat transport and the impacts of the change in westerly wind strength on European climate are studied in the last part of the manuscript. L’objectif de ce travail était d’étudier la variabilité de la circulation océanique méridienne aux échelles de temps pluri décennales dans l’océan Atlantique nord au cours des deux mille dernières années, ainsi que son lien avec la variation de l’extension des gyres subtropicales et subpolaires. J’ai donc étudié, à partir de carottes de sédiments marins à fort taux de sédimentation, l’évolution de la température des eaux de surface et de la ...